The Red Flags of DEI Jobs
This blog builds on The Ultimate Guide for Applying and Interviewing for a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Job.
One of my favorite pieces of satire is from McSweeney’s. They published a job post that brilliantly captures the false promises and superficial efforts often seen in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion roles.
It features some of my favorite lines:
“We are proud of the growth of the Center, pushed forward by the six past Directors, who were, in turn, pushed to pursue opportunities outside of higher education.”
“The first order of business for the incoming Director will be to review years of climate surveys and consider how not to operationalize their findings.”
“Developing lists of things to give student-activists that exclude their original demands.”
“Continually lowering your expectations. (You may think you’ve already done this. Think again.)”
This satirical job posting is something I revisit frequently. It serves as a reminder that while most real job postings may not be as blatantly misguided as this one, they often reflect how companies either misunderstand or underestimate the responsibilities and significance of a DEI role. Following my recently published blog: The Ultimate Guide for Applying and Interviewing for a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Job, I wanted to highlight some specific red flags I have encountered in DEI roles and the clues to look for before you accept the job.
I described many types of “Red Flags” below. However, it’s not always straightforward or obvious that a role has red flags. Oftentimes, a problematic role is a blend of several red flags from this list, and you’ll need to use some detective skills to read between the “well-intentioned” lines. For each of the red flags below, I included the clues to look for in the job posting or on the organization’s website. I also suggested some questions you can ask in the interview to try to figure out what’s really going on.
🚩 1: The “Kitchen Sink” Role
What this role looks like:
The “Kitchen Sink” Role is essentially one that encompasses everything related to DEI, and I mean everything. This role is responsible for every specific aspect of DEI work within a large organization. Responsibilities range from setting up an ERG program to regularly meeting with and supporting ERGs. It involves designing and delivering all DEI training, convincing both leaders and employees of the importance of DEI work, and perhaps even traveling extensively. If a topic touches on DEI, it’s your job. You become the inbox for every single idea, concern, and frustration. And, if anything goes wrong, the blame is placed squarely on you.
The red flag is not simply that there are many different responsibilities, it’s that there’s no way to focus your time on the things that have the most impact.
Clues in the job posting:
A job posting that lists every conceivable responsibility related to DEI, without any mention of a team to support you or stakeholders to collaborate with. There is no mention of a strategy to help you focus your efforts.
Questions to ask in your interview:
❓Is the role empowered to focus the work on projects or initiatives that have the most impact, even though it may mean saying no to some things?
❓Who are the stakeholders I will collaborate with to deliver the work?
❓In the past, how has the role worked with process owners to implement DEI initiatives?
🚩 2: The “Budget is Tight” Role
What this role looks like:
This role presents ambitious and lofty goals. However, there is absolutely no budget provided to the DEI team to implement the strategy. While a budget isn’t the only indicator of commitment, it does demonstrate that the organization values the work enough to allocate financial resources. (By the way, here’s a blog that delves into real budgetary information as well as what you need in addition to bring your DEI strategy to life).
Clues in the job posting:
It’s not too common to see budget specifics mentioned in a job posting. (If I were writing a job posting, I would certainly include the fact that the budget is secured for several years in advance — because it’s a positive sign to potential applicants.) But likely it won’t be mentioned. However, even if a budget is mentioned, it doesn’t necessarily mean you, in your role, will have control over it. Sometimes, depending on who owns that budget, there may be administrative hurdles that can make it challenging to access and utilize the funds. One approach to gauge a company’s financial commitment to DEI is to check their website. Look for mention of initiatives that obviously require a budget, like externally provided training. But in reality, the most direct way to get this information is to inquire during your interview.
Questions to ask in your interview:
❓What is the annual budget for the DEI team?
❓How is the budget approved and allocated for future years?
❓Who is the decision-making body that approves expenses related to DEI?
🚩 3: The “Buried in HR” Role
What this role looks like:
This situation is incredibly common. Essentially, a role is created, but it reports to a mid-level manager within HR. This manager often has limited experience and understanding of DEI. They are likely not sufficiently connected to senior leaders in order to provide visibility for your work. This dynamic can lead to ego conflicts, especially if the manager is hesitant about you meeting directly with key decision-makers. Consequently, you’re left without the empowerment and visibility necessary to effectively carry out your duties. This can leave you battling hierarchical systems that create significant barriers to getting any initiatives approved.
Clues in the job posting:
Oftentimes, job postings specify who the role reports to. You can then search for this person on LinkedIn to check their title and responsibilities. But likely, this won’t give you the whole picture. You’ll still need to ask questions.
Questions to ask in your interview:
❓Does your company have a group of leaders recognized as a Senior Leadership Team? If so, is the DEI role you are hiring for or the manager of this role a part of that group? (Huge red flag if not!)
❓Is this DEI role invited to meet directly with the Executive team to discuss DEI objectives?
❓When the person in this role hits roadblocks, can they directly call on a sponsor or champion in leadership to help remove them?
Note: You can also directly ask about the job grading system the company has. Most big companies have some way to rank the seniority of a role with a grade. Try to find out how the grade of this role compares to other strategic roles in the organization.
🚩 4: The “Party Planner” Role
What this role looks like:
I’ve come across many job postings for DEI roles (mostly in Germany) that primarily focus on organizing events such as Diversity Day, International Women’s Day or celebrations during Pride Month. Upon closer inspection of the other responsibilities, there seems to be a lack of meaningful work aimed at genuinely changing an organization. Organizing events can be incredibly time-consuming. If they become the main focus of your role, it becomes impossible to accomplish other tasks, especially strategic initiatives. By the way, if you have this type of role, likely the rest of the organization will perceive you merely as the diversity event organizer, rather than an agent of change.
Clues in the job posting:
Examine the job description and its listed responsibilities. If they mainly focus on organizing events or recognizing specific months or holidays without much else, I’d have concerns. It’s also a good idea to review their website. If all the DEI initiatives mentioned there, or on their social media, revolve around celebrating specific days and lack any other strategic commitments, I would be very skeptical. (See: satire on corporate Pride advertising campaigns).
Questions to ask in your interview:
❓Can you share some information about your strategic goals for this year?
❓What projects were the DEI team most proud of last year?
❓If the company wants to organize an event for Intl. Women’s Day, who is responsible for making it happen?
🚩 5: The “For Optics Only” Role
What this role looks like:
This situation can be a bit deceptive. Often, these roles come with very senior titles, such as Chief DEI Officer or VP of DEI. However, when you delve deeper into the role, analyzing its responsibilities and how empowered the position truly is, the role does not function as a genuine changemaker. Instead, it serves more as a figurehead. This gives an optical impression that the organization is investing in DEI and genuinely cares. But behind the scenes, there is minimal support to enact real change. Often, these roles have neither a team backing them nor the budget, resources, and authority to put a strategy into action.
Typically, very senior DEI roles aren’t publicly advertised. Companies usually hire through a recruiting or sourcing agency. By the way, it’s a red flag when a company relies exclusively on an agency to fill such a role. This approach means they limit the pool of potential candidates to those known to the agency. Consequently, many individuals are excluded from consideration for the position. I’ve noticed that when such roles are filled in Europe, it’s often a white man or white woman who is hired. These individuals are typically recruited from more well-known companies. This perpetuates a cycle where those with the most privilege and visibility land the highest-paying jobs.
Clues in the job posting:
There’s no mention of leading a team or the aim to develop an ambitious strategy with measurable outcomes. Instead, there’s talk of having “visible influence” or being “the Face of DEI”. You can look on LinkedIn and see how long the last person in the role stayed with the company. If they’ve already left, you may consider asking them about their experience.
Questions to ask in your interview:
❓Why did the last person who held this role decide to leave?
❓Who are the peers in leadership that this role will work with to implement the strategy?
❓How often will this role meet with the executive team?
❓Is this role consulted regarding DEI considerations before big business decisions are made?
🚩 6: The “Passionate Team of One” Role
What this role looks like:
This is a familiar scenario. A large organization wants to hire someone for DEI, but they’re not entirely convinced about the need for a full team. They’ll promote someone internally who might already be doing this work, as part of another role or is someone who is passionate about it due to their membership in an ERG. This results in what I’d label as a “Passionate Team of One.” This situation bears similarities to the “Kitchen Sink” role and shares the warning signs of the “Buried in HR” role. The role encompasses many responsibilities, but the person doesn’t have the advantage of a team to collaborate with. Sometimes, the role may be housed within a loosely related team, like the Culture or L&D team, but ultimately, it’s a solitary role responsible for all DEI work.
Thus, the first (lonely) year of this role is spent establishing a DEI council or committee that can be consulted for support and approval as initiatives progress. Sadly, much of the time is also spent advocating for the creation of a dedicated team. This requires a big investment of time and energy to persuade decision-makers to grow the team. While doing this, it becomes challenging to focus on and accomplish other strategic tasks.
Clues in the job posting:
If the job posting doesn’t mention teammates or colleagues involved in DEI, that could be a sign of this situation. You can search on LinkedIn to see if any other individuals within the company have a DEI title or DEI responsibilities as part of another role.
Questions to ask in your interview:
❓What team is this role a part of?
❓Are there plans to expand the size of the team in the future? Who will lead the team at that point?
❓Are members from other teams (like Talent Acquisition, Performance Management and Leadership Development) given a mandate to support DEI initiatives relevant to their area of work?
🚩 7: The “First DEI Hire” Role
What this role looks like:
Being the first DEI role in a company isn’t a red flag in itself. At some point, every company needs to hire its first DEI role. However, the issue is that this first role often bears the brunt of the company’s growing pains related to DEI. First, the organization realizes they need a DEI role. Typically a lot of pain and frustration lead to that decision. Then, they need to determine what’s required for that role to succeed. Sadly, that step often doesn’t occur before the role is hired. Instead, it slowly comes into focus during the first year of the new hire. During this period, the person in the role struggles to gain the influence and authority needed to effect any real change.
Clues in the job posting:
Does the job posting mention crafting the organization’s DEI strategy? It’s a good sign if it does, because it shows that the organization recognizes that putting a strategy in place is a critical first step. Without a clear strategy as a first priority, it is very challenging to implement meaningful work. If the role lacks strategic responsibilities, the person might merely be coordinating events, acting as an inbox for employee concerns or overseeing employee resource groups.
Questions to ask in your interview:
Generally, I find it helpful to try to understand what exactly led to the decision to create this first role — this gives you some insight into how the role is perceived and what they expect it to accomplish.
❓What prompted the decision to hire this first DEI role? Was it driven by employee requests or a directive from leadership?
❓Was someone managing DEI responsibilities as part of another role, which led to the realization that a full-time, dedicated role is needed?
❓Have there been any previous attempts to develop a DEI strategy? If so, how successful were those efforts?
❓What do you envision as a successful first year in this role? What specific accomplishments would you like to see during that period?
How much can you expect?
I want to manage expectations in both directions. I’ve heard from people interviewing for roles that they were disappointed because the individuals (non-DEI professionals) interviewing them didn’t seem fully informed about DEI or didn't use the correct language when talking about DEI. Personally, I think in some situations, this is understandable. Hopefully, the reason the company decided to hire a DEI role is because they recognize a lack of internal expertise. And ideally, they’re looking to bring someone in who possesses that expertise. To summarize: to me, it’s not a red flag if the hiring manager is struggling to talk about DEI or is not sure what their DEI strategy should look like.
However, you then need to discern whether the organization, including its senior leaders and especially your direct manager, is genuinely open to utilizing your expertise. Do they value your knowledge, or do they assume they already have all the answers? Are you considered senior and trusted enough to consult on critical decisions? A common source of friction in DEI roles is that, while the person hired may have a wealth of expertise, they’re not empowered to use it to bring about change or influence decision-making. Likely this happens because the DEI title is not senior enough or because their manager functions as a blockade.
Take it from here….
This situation seems pretty disheartening, doesn’t it? It raises the question: Are there any DEI jobs out there without red flags? In reality, it’s never that simple. I don’t think there’s an absolutely perfect job or an entirely terrible one. Most positions are a mix of potential 🚩red flags and 🌱green flags (positive, empowering factors) that set the role up for success. The real challenge is to determine if the positive aspects outweigh the negatives. In the spirit of ending on a positive note, here are some 🌱green flags to look out for:
🌱 Mention of a budget in the job posting such as… “the budget is committed for 3 years, managed by DEI team”
🌱 Mention of team size and where the team is located within the organization
🌱 Explanation of how the leadership team is involved in DEI work, for example, a member of the exec team is a sponsor or champion
🌱 Links to a previously published DEI strategy or a DEI report where progress is tracked
🌱 List of job responsibilities that are well defined and able to be accomplished, ideally data-driven
🌱 Salary range listed in the job posting
🌱 Good references about the company from current or former employees
🌱 An invitation to apply even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements
🌱 Transparency on the hiring and interviewing process, with quick responses and feedback
🌱 Transparency on the hybrid or remote working policy
As an applicant, it’s your task to determine the balance of these factors. You need to try to guess whether you’ll genuinely be empowered in the role. Does the organization value the DEI position and aim for genuine positive change? Or are they simply looking for someone to deflect the critiques they receive?
What’s next?
Hopefully, you can use these tips to sniff out and avoid the red flags! When you are ready to start your new job, I can strongly recommend you check out my book: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: How to Succeed at an Impossible Job. It is a detailed look into the step-by-step process of developing a strategy, creating meaningful initiatives, tracking your progress and avoiding burnout!
Check out what some readers have said about DEI: How to Succeed at an Impossible Job…
Akin to the title itself, Sarah in this book has achieved a near-impossible job of creating a practical toolkit for every DEI professional and leader today. DEI, contrary to perception is not the cherry on the cake of company culture; it is the cake itself, and in this book, Sarah accomplishes to write up the recipe.
Manjuri Sinha, Global Director of Talent Acquisition at OLX Group
I loved every bit of this book, for so many reasons. First, this book is very relatable. Sarah shares with us real-life experiences she’s gained from her career, which makes this book very easy to understand. Secondly, Sarah does not stay at a theoretical level but suggests many practical situations and solutions to commonly-faced challenges. They are very actionable, ‘do-it-next-day’ solutions. Finally, the one thing I really loved about this book is though it’s applicable for any location, it’s written in the context of Europe which we have not yet seen many publications focusing on. If you don’t know how to start D&I in your organization, this is your book.
Mertcan Uzun, Head of Culture & Community at Blinkist
